1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved concrete path paver, and, more particularly, to a concrete paving machine designed to be pulled behind a cement truck to lay a slip-formed path of concrete on the ground as the concrete is dispensed from the cement truck through the machine, the machine including a removable screed, adjustable sides and stabilizing fins.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently there are a wide variety of paving machines designed to lay a path or roadway. Some machines are designed for laying concrete, others for laying asphalt. Typically, the bed of the path or roadway must be prepared prior to laying the material. The material must provide adequate support for the path or roadway. For heavy roadways, the bed is prepared with aggregate and aggregate compositions to provide greater load-bearing support for the roadway. For lighter applications, however, such as cart paths on golf courses, the pathway must only be cleared of grass and trees and leveled to a limited degree. For heavy roadways, the bed is generally flat with minimum curves. For golf course paths, the bed may be hilly with sharper curves.
A large number of devices are known for the dispensing of material onto the surface to be paved. By way of example, note my prior patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,778 issued Nov. 7, 1989, directed to a concrete path paver. That patent relates to apparatus for dispensing concrete to form paths. Such apparatus, however, is a large, high-profile unit. In addition, like all prior pavers, such machine is capable of dispensing concrete at only one particular width. Furthermore, known pavers have a tendency to shift sideways when being pulled and not to faithfully follow the movement of its pulling truck.
Other devices for depositing concrete with the same problems as described above include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,332,688 to Baily; 2,664,794 to Evans; and 4,609,303 to Shumaker. Beyond these patents, the depositing of particulate material such as asphalt is also disclosed in other prior patents, as for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,767,243 to Kime; 3,246,584 to Lee; 3,456,566 to Lazaro; 3,877,830 to James; 3,989,402 to James; and 4,802,788 to Smith.
None of these patented prior devices, whether that of my prior patent or those of others, whether for concrete, asphalt or other materials, is directed to solving the problems as addressed herein.
The above-mentioned patents disclose paving machines adapted for specific applications. Except for the machine of my own prior patent, none of the disclosed prior paving machines are particularly adapted for laying cart paths on golf courses. With regard to golf cart paths in particular, it is desirable to minimize damage to the grass turf of the golf course except beneath the intended path to be paved. No prior paving machine can maintain its movement to within the confines of the path to be paved. Further, no prior paving maching is readily convertible to vary the width of the concrete dispensed and the path formed.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a concrete paving machine which overcomes the inadequacies of the prior art devices and which provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the concrete path paving art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a paver for slip-forming a path of concrete onto a pathway the upper surface of which constitutes a plane of construction, comprising in combination a box having an exterior front wall and an interior front wall extending downwardly at an angle through the box to the plane of construction, and a rear wall extending downwardly at an angle through the box to a location above the plane of construction, and opposing side walls coupling the front and rear walls extending downwardly to the plane of construction to define the closed box having an upper opened end for receiving concrete and a lower opened end with a vertically disposed opened mouth defined by the vertical edges of the side walls and the lower edge of the rear wall, with the lower opened end having a smaller cross-sectional area than the upper opened end; a screed for forming the concrete, means for securing the screed at its edges to the side walls adjacent to the lower edge of the rear wall with the forward end of the screed being positioned at the opened mouth; shoes removably positionable interiorly of the side walls and exteriorly of the screed to reduce the width of the path being formed; a ski formed by the bends in the exterior front wall and secured at its edges to the side walls across the lowermost front edge of the box, the plate being angled to create a ski-like effect upon movement of the paver on the pathway; a pair of skids affixed to a lowermost edges of the sidewalls causing the box to float upon the pathway during movement of the paver; fins extending downwardly from the box to stabilize the movement of the paver; and hitch means connected to the front of the box allowing the paver to be connected immediately behind a cement truck by means of a chain such that concrete being dispensed from the chute of a cement truck pulling the apparatus flows into the upper opened end of the box while the screed forms the concrete from the opened mouth of the lower opened end into a concrete path laid directly on the pathway.
Another object of this invention is to pave a concrete path with machinery capable of laying a path at one of a plurality of widths.
Another object of this invention is to pull paving apparatus in a path which faithfully follows the direction of the cement truck which is pulling it.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of this invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the present invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or by modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.